Already Gone (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1) by Blake Pierce (notion reading list .txt) 📗

She picked up her cell phone from the tablebeside the bed as it rang out, startling her.

“Agent Frost,” she said, breathless fromthe exertion and from the shock of getting a call that she hadn’t beenexpecting. Still, instinct kicked in. She guessed it was probably going to be DivisionChief Rondelle, or—

“Laura.”

Laura’s breath caught in the back of herthroat. Of all the people she would have thought likely to call her, he was oneof the last. “Marcus?”

“I had a call from the hospital,” hesaid. His voice was strained and tight, like he was begrudging having to talkto her at all. “Apparently, I’m still your next of kin. Something happened toyou?”

“I’m sorry,” Laura said, her voicerestrained and subdued. “I’ll update my records. I’m… I’m fine.”

“You get blackout drunk again, Laura?”Marcus asked accusingly.

“No!” Laura said, hating the fact thateven the denial itself would make her sound like a liar. She only had herselfto blame, she knew. All the times she had lied in the past to cover up heralcohol problem. “No, I’m out here working a case. Things got a little… hairywith the suspect. I took a few knocks, but I’m okay. They’re discharging mealready.”

Marcus made a noise that sounded like hewasn’t sure whether to believe her, but before he could say anything else,another voice interrupted.

“Is that Mommy?” The girl in the backgroundof the call was faint, but Laura heard her. It was Lacey. Her sweet, beautifuldaughter. She was close by. She was almost close enough to talk…

“Lacey?” Laura burst out, shouting itloud, wanting to make her voice heard over the speakers on the other end. “Lacey,honey, can you hear me?”

“Shut up,” Marcus snapped at her. “No,Lacey, it’s not Mommy. Go back and finish your breakfast, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“No! Lacey! Please, Marcus, please—”Laura gasped, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I told you,” Marcus said heavily. “Notuntil I’m ready.”

Then the line went dead.

Laura felt hot tears streaming over herface, sobs racking her body as she leaned forward, covering her eyes with herhands. Her daughter… she’d been so close. But so far.

Laura cried herself dry. She only had somuch within herself. It was partly self-preservation: the harder she sobbed,the more her ribs ached. She managed to lied back on the pillow, breathingdeeply and looking up at the blank ceiling, finding enough of a calm insideherself to stop the tears.

Just not the grief.

Laura breathed out heavily, rubbing herhead. She needed to do something, anything, to make this feeling diminish. Sheneeded to do some good. She looked back through her contacts and dialed anothernumber—this time, for Dean Marsters, the FBI tech who’d said he would help.

“Yeah?” he said, picking up after only acouple of rings.

“Dean. Please tell me you havesomething.”

“Oh, Frost. As a matter of fact, I wasgoing to call you,” he replied. His voice sounded chipper, like he was pleasedwith himself. “I didn’t know if you wanted to be disturbed while you’rerecuperating. I heard through the grapevine you were injured early thismorning.”

“Please disturb me,” she said. Shecaught the irony in the words as soon as she’d said it. The more disturbing thedirt he’d managed to find on Governor Fallow, the better.

“Well, turns out he’s had a couple ofrun-ins over the years,” Dean reported. “As far as I can see, they mostlyinvolve people being paid off to sign NDAs and keep his bad behavior tothemselves. I don’t have any exact details just yet, but I have the names of afew people who received suspicious amounts of money. It could lead nowhere ifthey’re not prepared to talk, but if you need to take him to court, this couldbe something you could lean on. Get full disclosure from his lawyers, orsomething like that. Even if you can get a look at the agreements to see whatit is they’ve signed off on not talking about.”

“Got it,” Laura said, even though shefelt her heart sinking. It sounded like a lot more work. She’d been hoping forsomething concrete, something she could use to immediately have Fallow declaredan unfit father—or at least rock his position in office. But she was going tohave to work with it. Amy needed her to. “Send me everything.”

“Will do, Frost. Don’t forget thatcoffee and muffin you owe me.”

“Next time I’m in the office,” shepromised, ending the call.

She lifted her phone, thinking she woulddial another number. When her finger hesitated over the call button forGovernor Fallow’s residence, a spike of pain hit her in the forehead. She knewwhat was coming even before it—

Amy. A close-up of her face. Crying.

“Daddy,” she said, sobbing through tearsthat shook her whole frame, blowing a bubble of snot under her nose. “No!”

Laura surfaced with a gasp, finding herhands shaking. Short but sweet. It told her everything she needed to know.

She ignored the pain in her head—andeverywhere else, it seemed—as she got up out of the bed and reached for herclothes. She had to go—and now.

She dressed quickly and headed for theexit. Out there she found Nate already waiting with the car, ready to drivethem both to the airport. It was time to leave here, and Laura was champing atthe bit to be in the air already.

There was one other person who was stillwaiting for her to contact them, she knew. VirginiaMan383. She wished she couldjust sit here in the hospital and actually rest, but it felt like her timescalekept moving up. Amy couldn’t wait; she needed help as soon as possible. And nowthat she knew there was something going on with Nate’s death, somethingconnected to the very knowledge of her visions, she needed advice.

Meeting up with someone who experiencedthe same things she did might help her to decide what to do. To make sense ofit all. Maybe she could get some answers.

She fired off a message through theforum’s personal messaging system from the passenger seat, her fingers flyingover her phone’s keyboard as quickly as she could make them.

Hi, VirginiaMan383. I’m coming back intotown. Let’s meet on Thursday at the café next to the Y on W Street. 1:30 okayfor you?

She hit send without